Town: Steve Phillips, Dean Holden (Hooman, 66), Graham Coughlan (c), Kelvin Langmead, Dave Hibbert, Jake Robinson (Bright, 74), Paul Murray (Neal, 62), Jake Simpson, Shane Cansdell-Sherriff, Joss Labadie, Kevin McIntyre

Subs: Nathan Elder, Kris Bright, Steve Leslie, Harry Hooman, Andre Gray, Andreas Arestidou, Lewis Neal

Goals: Robinson 22, Labadie 49, Langmead 54

Northampton Town: Chris Dunn, John Johnson, Luke Guttridge, Craig Hinton (c),Dean Beckwith, Steve Guinan, Adebayo Akinfenwa (Marshall, 35), Andy Holt, Ryan Gilligan, Gary Mulligan (Herbert, 63), John Curtis (Dyer, 74)

Subs: Ben Marshall, Alex Dyer, Chris McCready, Courtney Herbert, Seb Harris, Luke Boden, Simon Brown

Attendance: 5,548 (461 away)

Referee: G Eltringham
Assistant Referee (yellow): P Marsden
Assistant Referee (plain): K Mattocks
Fourth Official: N Hobbis

Martin Wild reports from the Prostar

Not surprisingly, Paul Simpson keeps faith with the side for the third game in a row, after successive home and away victories against Crewe and Lincoln, which has taken the team into the top seven.

The Prostar Stadium was bathed in sunshine with a decent crowd inside, the bulk of whom were looking to see if Town could extend their winning run to four from five outings, with victory here this afternoon.

One can only assume that Town lost the toss as they turned around to attack the South Stand - their known preferred option for the second period.

Northampton fired a warning shot across Town's bows with their first meaningful attack after six minutes. Much of the play in the early stages had taken place inside the Cobblers' defensive half of the field, but when Joss Labadie lost out in an aerial battle on the edge of his own area, Luke Guttridge flashed his left footer across Steve Phillips and was only fractionally wide, with Graham Coughlan scampering back to try and cover.

The visitors are in the midst of a wretched run of results which saw previous manager Stuart Gray relieved of his duties earlier this month. Caretaker boss Ian Sampson has fared little better with the run of defeats having now stretched to four.

Town forced a number of corners and were unfortunate not to register when Kelvin Langmead attacked the ball at the front post, but couldn't direct his header towards goal.

There were howls of protest from the home supporters when a huge Phillips clearance almost put Dave Hibbert in, but Gary Mulligan's sheer strength saw the ball run straight through to opposite keeper Chris Dunn, with the centre forward unable to get near enough to threaten the goal.

Midway through the half came the breakthrough and it was Jake Robinson who once again edged his side in front. It was a simple finish not unlike the one that saw him register at Sincil Bank last week, but it owed much to the invention of Joss Labadie and Coughlan, who linked well before the defender put the goal on a plate for the summer recruit from Brighton, with a perfectly weighted low ball in from the right.

The home side now had their tails up and were passing the ball around well with Northampton on the back foot for long periods. When they did venture far enough forward, it was man-mountain Adebayo Akinfenwa who looked the most likely to cause the home defence any problems, although one headed chance that came his way was somehow directed way off target. One can only imagine that he picked up some kind of knock as his afternoon was prematurely ended ten minutes before half-time.

Steve Guinan had an opportunity to level moments after the substitution but his angled drive went into the side netting.

Shrews responded and after surviving another bout of pressure, they sprung a classic counter which saw Hibbert head on for Kevin McIntyre in acres of space down the left. Jake Simpson had even more ahead of him on the opposite flank and McIntyre was quick to pick him out. Simpson ran thirty yards or so before getting in the shot, but Dunn was able to make a save low to his left.

As the game gathered pace, Guinan again went close to firing an equaliser, but Phillips was equal to the task and the slender lead was preserved.

As the clock ticked towards half-time, the club from the bottom end of the M6 were coming more and more into it. Guttridge's 20 yard piledriver was brilliantly deflected away for a corner by the despairing lunge of skipper Coughlan, as Town defended with their lives. Even marksman Hibbert got in on the act with another supreme example of fighting for the cause in the last action of an entertaining half.

Half-Time: 1-0

Town got off to a dream start in the second half. Robinson was fouled on the near touchline and Joss Labadie was unmarked at the back post to head home McIntyre's free-kick after 49 minutes.

Barely five minutes later and the Cobblers were punished in identical fashion. Simpson was felled in a déjà-vu situation and once more McIntyre's precision kick was despatched at the back post by Langmead.

The crowd were now in party mood with the side playing with a swagger amid the kind of confidence you might expect from a side in form. But they were still grateful to Phillips whose strong left arm denied Guttridge an immediate reply for the visitors, with the busy Northampton midfielder coming within a whisker seconds later but for the merest of deflections.

With a three goal lead, Shrews looked well capable of going on to register the points and keep momentum high before the trip to Cheltenham on Tuesday evening. With that fixture in mind, Simpson made a change just past the hour. Lewis Neal came on for Paul Murray who had put in another industrious shift in the centre of the park, and he came off to generous applause.

There was a special moment for Harry Hooman who made his senior bow by replacing Dean Holden after 66 minutes - just after the team had passed the 300 minute marker since they last conceded a goal.

Northampton weren't without their chances but they had come up against Town at their most resolute. Blue bodies just continually shut the door on the suffering forwards, and it looked like their horrible run of losses was set to continue.

There were some good touches too from young Hooman, though he couldn't ask for much more than an introduction on a sunny afternoon in front of his own fans - and with a three goal safety cushion to boot!

Ben Marshall just cleared the crossbar with a fine attempt from just outside the box, and then Simpson's inviting low cross just evaded Robinson or it could have been four.

Shrews third and final change gave Kris Bright a fifteen minute run-out when he replaced Robinson, and Northampton sub Alex Dyer tested Phillips just sixty seconds after his introduction. It was one of a number of fine saves from the Town stopper whose initial loan period from Bristol Rovers ends next week.

Some of the Northampton fans had seen enough and were heading for the exits with still ten minutes of play remaining. In fairness, what they had seen was conclusive evidence that today wasn't going to bring any reward for the attacking display their team had given them. On this evidence, it can't be too long before their fortunes begin to change, but their drop into League Two after last season's relegation, has so far seen them struggle somewhat after an encouraging start. Ryan Gilligan's daisy cutter that struck the base of the post in stoppage time summed up their fortune in front of goal perfectly.

Salop were happy to see the game out and conserve their energy for the tough away game in three days time - although with consecutive away wins under their belt - and a remarkable five from the last seven - is it too early to suggest that last year's demons have been well and truly exorcised?

On today's showing, you'd have to answer in the affirmative. Another very good day in the office at Prostar Towers.

Full-Time: 3-0